Dump closure puts many out of work<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
Scavenger Emay Sumarna has been \"out of work\" since last Monday
\nwhen mountains of garbage at Leuwigajah dump collapsed, killing
\n89 people and burying 70 houses. As of Saturday, a total of 54
\nothers were still missing.<\/p>\n
The disaster forced the 35-year-old to take his wife, Rini,
\nand his daughter to the house of his wife's parents in Cililin.<\/p>\n
\"I was once a factory worker but got fired in the 1990s. Then
\nI worked on construction sites, but that didn't last -- so I
\nstarted as a scavenger six years ago,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
As a scavenger, he can bring home at least Rp 10,000 (US$1.1)
\nper day, lunch money for many, but enough to feed his whole
\nfamily.<\/p>\n
The resident of Cilimus hamlet in East Batujajar subdistrict,
\nwhich lost half its houses in the disaster, worries about the
\npossible closure of the dump and its impact on his future.<\/p>\n
\"I'm confused,\" he said softly.<\/p>\n
Some 1,000 people in Cireundeu, the post for Leuwigajah dump
\nscavengers, collect recyclables for a living.<\/p>\n
The garbage on the 25-hectare site had been piled 20 meters
\nhigh at the time of the disaster.<\/p>\n
Ade, 45, a coordinator of the scavengers, who has been in the
\narea since the 1990s, said scavengers work right through the
\nnight in shifts.<\/p>\n
During the day, around 1,000 scavengers work in the dump while
\nat night, that number reduces by half.<\/p>\n
\"Those who work at night are mostly from surrounding areas
\nsuch as Cilimus, Pojok and Cireundeu villages,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Others arrived at the dump to scavenge from as far away as
\nYogyakarta and Semarang.<\/p>\n
Ade said there are around 40 coordinators, each of whom manage
\n10 scavengers.<\/p>\n
Most scavengers make around Rp10,000 and Rp30,000 per day. As
\na coordinator, Ade brings home as much as Rp800,000 per day.<\/p>\n
\"Good enough for my family,\" said the man who has two wives
\nand six children.<\/p>\n
More than 10 trucks transport recyclables collected by the
\nscavengers to buyers in Cigondewah.<\/p>\n
Mak Otas, 80 -- who mostly works as a scavenger at night --
\nsaid she did not know what she would do if the dump closed for
\ngood.<\/p>\n
At the time of the disaster, she was on her way home from the
\ndump.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't even have the chance to shower -- suddenly I heard a
\nlarge bang, three times. It was followed by a sound like
\nthunder,\" said the old woman, who survived after crawling 15
\nmeters away from her house to safety. Her son in-law and two
\ngrandchildren, who had been sleeping at the time of the disaster,
\nwere buried under the mounds of garbage.<\/p>\n
Although she lost loved ones at the dump, Mak Otas wants to
\nreturn to scavenging. \"What else can I do? Is there someone out
\nthere who can give a job to an old woman like me?\" she asked.<\/p>\n
In the disaster, Ade said, at least 12 scavengers were killed
\nbut their bodies are yet to be recovered.<\/p>\n
\"All jobs carry risks. Maybe that was a risk we faced as
\nscavengers. But we're not afraid to go back to work as that's the
\nonly job we have,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Head of West Java Environment Office Ade Suhanda, said that
\nLeuwigajah dump, which receives garbage from the three areas'
\nseven million people, was able to accommodate more garbage.<\/p>\n
So far, he said, no decision had been made as to whether the
\ndump will stay open.<\/p>\n
\"If we closed it, where would the garbage go? Then again, we
\nmust also take into account the residents' resistance to its
\nexistence,\" Ade said. \"It's a sensitive decision because the
\ndisaster claimed so many lives.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dump-closure-puts-many-out-of-work-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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